I recently made a classic sales mistake during an interview that has been nagging at me for days. I realized only after the fact that I was trying to sell myself without pausing to ask enough questions or think about the interviewer. After considering it more, I realized that this is a common mistake of mine. I will work on this in the future!
This learning experience occurred during a first round phone screen for a supply chain internship near home for the summer. On the job posting, they listed candidate requirements such as: business analysis & supply chain majors, excel experience, supply chain knowledge, fast-paced environment, etc.. When I saw the job description and things they were looking for, I thought I fit the requirements perfectly. The job tasks and company also seemed interesting. Because of this, I was eager to apply for the job and was thrilled when I was asked to schedule an interview.
I prepared for the interview by writing down some notes from the job posting and connecting them to things I had done in the past or was interested in. I hoped this would prepare me for some first-round questions, so I tunnel visioned on these notes. The interview went well until I was hit with a question I did not answer well: “why do you want to work for this company?”. I jumped to the answer with happy ears and went on and on about why the opportunity and job specifics interested me. While this was an honest answer, I never considered asking a clarifying question such as “what do you mean by that?”. After my long-winded answer, the interviewer had to clarify herself and ask why this company specifically, and I was not prepared. This led to a short lull in conversation that was otherwise going well. I believe the rest of the interview was a success, but I guess I’ll find out on Monday!
In the future, I will make sure to ask clarifying questions and not assume the other party/interviewer’s true needs and desires. This was a very valuable sales experience for me!
murraylg23 
Bonaquistmr23
Your reflection highlights a very important lesson in sales! It can be easy for us as salespeople to jump into listing our qualifications and “selling ourselves” before we truly hear out the customer and cater the pitch to them. This mistake is especially hard to avoid since we have spent so much time building up these qualifications and want to let the customer know of that, but it is important to resist this urge.
Having self-reflection in situations is a very good skill have. You are only going to learn from this mistake and get better. Trying to sell your skills is something all people struggle with at some point because most of us have to find jobs. So, the fact that you were able to self-reflect and realize you focused too much on yourself instead of the customer is a valuable mistake/ lesson you will remember from now. Learning from mistakes is a part of life!